THE BLACK BOX 6/2 



The experimenter who is not interested in Black Box theory 

 usually regards any casing as merely a nuisance, for it delays his 

 answering the question "what is in this Box?" We, however, shall 

 be considering such larger questions as 



"How should an experimenter proceed when faced with a Black 



Box?" 

 "What properties of the Box's contents are discoverable and what 



are fundamentally not discoverable?" 

 "What methods should be used if the Box is to be investigated 



efficiently?" 



Proper attention can be given to these questions only by our accept- 

 ing the existence, at least temporarily, of a casing, and proceeding 

 accordingly. Then, and only then, can we develop a scientific 

 epistemology. 



6/2. To start with, let us make no assumptions at all about the 

 nature of the Box and its contents, which might be something, say, 

 that has just fallen from a Flying Saucer. We assume, though, that 

 the experimenter has certain given resources for acting on it (e.g. 

 prodding it, shining a hght on it) and certain given resources for 

 observing its behaviour (e.g. photographing it, recording its tempera- 

 ture). By thus acting on the Box, and by allowing the Box to affect 

 him and his recording apparatus, the experimenter is coupling 

 himself to the Box, so that the two together form a system with 

 feedback : 



Box 



Experimenter 



For the coupling to be made in some defined and reproducible 

 way, the Box's "input" must be specified, if only arbitrarily and 

 provisionally. Every real system has an indefinitely large number of 

 possible inputs — of possible means by which the experimenter may 

 exert some action on the Box. Equally, it has an indefinitely large 

 number of possible outputs — of ways by which it may affect the 

 experimenter, perhaps through recording instruments. If the 

 investigation is to be orderly, the set of inputs to be used and of 

 outputs to be observed must be decided on, at least provisionally. 

 Let us assume, then, that this has been done. 



The situation that we (author and reader) are considering can be 

 made clearer by the introduction of two harmless conventions. Let 

 it be assumed that the inputs, whatever their real nature, are replaced 

 by, or represented by, a set of levers or pointers — ^like the controls to 

 a domestic cooking oven. We can then be quite clear as to what is 



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